A 15-year-old Cuban girl became the star of one of the most talked-about videos of the week on TikTok, as she was recorded for the first time inside a supermarket in República Dominicana, marveling at products that are completely ordinary for millions of people around the world.
The clip, posted by the account @fdezmey, shows the young woman asking in astonishment as she sees the vast array of products in the supermarket, fondling a jar of Nutella and looking in wonder at the shelves packed with goods. In just a few days, it garnered 1.9 million views, over 91,200 "likes," and nearly three thousand comments.
The creator of the video described the scene with a phrase that encapsulates the reality of millions of Cubans: "The reaction of a Cuban for the first time in a decent market. The bare minimum a human being should have the right to: a dignified diet. His reaction during the video says it all."
According to the author himself in the comments, the young woman traveled to the Dominican Republic as a quinceañera gift, a trip entirely funded by her uncles who live and work in the United States. “She is now in the Dominican Republic because her uncles working in the United States could afford her vacation as her 15th birthday gift,” he wrote, highlighting the crucial role that remittances play in everyday life on the island.
The most valued comment on the post came from a user who captured the prevailing sentiment in just four words: "one laughs... but it's sad," a phrase that garnered over 4,000 hearts.
Other users reflected on what they usually take for granted. "Sometimes I feel ungrateful when I see these videos, things that are normal for me and incredible for others," wrote a follower. Another comment noted, "It's a shame that some human beings do not have the same privileges as the rest."
The video adds to a recurring viral phenomenon among Cubans leaving the island for the first time, known as the "supermarket shock," which has produced dozens of similar clips recorded in Mexico, Spain, El Salvador, and the United States since 2023.
Similar reactions from Cubans to full shelves in foreign supermarkets have moved audiences around the world in recent years, but the response from this 15-year-old girl struck a particularly sensitive chord: that of a teenager discovering for the first time, as a birthday gift, what should be a basic right.
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